God's Great Love For Us

How true this is. Yet how untrue. I read a quote that said, "If you truly love someone, then you would care for their happiness more than your own." But you can experience love greater and deeper and different than any kind of love from any human being on this planet. Who is it? Of course, it's God. He loves everybody. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believed him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus paid the sin on the cross for us, sinners, yet he was perfect beyond belief. He died a painful death, and so did his disciples. Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you'll have an easy life. 

Bartholomew had a terrible death. He died because when he was in India or somewhere close there, they skinned him alive. Skinned! And he didn't die because there was no skin life, he died because of loss of blood. If you didn't have any skin, you'd be muscle, blood, and bones. But Peter 1 3:14 says, "But even if you suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed." How true! Eternal life in heaven! 

Seeking God

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17

Seeking for God is like searching for a treasure. You don’t wait for someone to show up at your door and hand you a treasure. You go look for it.  You may not even know exactly what the treasure is but you know it has great value and, therefore, are willing to do what it takes to find it. 

If we truly want to find God, we must be willing to do the things that God wants us to do. The Bible promises that if we seek God, he will come to us. God wants to be in our lives but sin separates us from God. The things that are acceptable and pleasing to the world are not pleasing to God. In order to get closer to God we must be willing to turn away from the things that are not from God. 

Looking back will only cause you to stumble and fall.  If you carry around prides and achievement  that keep your focus on the past, you are missing your present and future!  You will not have your eyes on the blessings God is trying to give you on a daily basis. 

Ask yourself this question: Are you ready to start the new chapter of your life , opening up a new door and dong new things? If you eyes are always looking backwards, you are blind to the thing before you. 

Adultery

It saddens me to think of how many spouses cheat on each other, how many divorces there are.

The Bible says not to cheat on each other. And if your right eye causes you to sin, like you look at that person and fall in love even though you're married to another person, cut it out.

Harsh. Yet it is no longer a HUGE problem. The divorce rates in California is surprisingly huge.

HA, if only we'd listen to the Bible.

Wifi

I wasn't able to post for awhile....the wifi was gone. long story.

I think I'll change Rachel's weekly words to Words of Wisdom or something because I don't really want to make it weekly. And stuff like that anyways...

So yeah.

Loyal and thankful

Dogs are loyal to their owners.
You're supposed to be loyal to your friends.
I think that God's definition of loyal is willing to die for him .
Sometimes
I don't think that everybody realizes this.
Imagine if your running to Starbucks for happy hour. The line is ridiculously long.
Your with your best friend, who's a super fast sprinter. Everyone else is getting in line, and she wants to save a spot for you two.
"I'll rush ahead and grab a spot!" your friend yells to you.
"I can do it, if you want!" You scream back.
"No, I'll do it. That's what friends do." She yells back sincerely.
You both begin to walk across the street, your friend sprinting.
She speeds across the street, j-walking, and a car hits her. Bam. she's dead.
That should have been you. That never should have happened.
That's what Jesus did to you.
Are you thankful to Jesus for everyday that you live?
Are you thankful that you will go to heaven?
Can you sincerely smile to God and know that he's there?

What Jesus did for us is amazing.
He shed his blood for us.
That might or might not make you emotional.
Next, he did what no other man has done.
He conquered the grave.
Can you do that?
Jesus died, then rose again.
That proves he's real.
When you live, are you going to show people that Jesus is real?
Or will people go to hell, not even getting a chance to learn about Jesus.
If you aren't trying to share God's word with your friends, you're letting them go to hell without a chance.
You're being a bad friend, and being a not loving one.
You'll never know unless you try.

Earthly Desires, Heaven and Hell

Earthly stuff don't matter. Like being popular, expensive brand name clothes, makeup, or even grades. That's not saying you have to be dumb and live on the streets. I mean, wear decent clothes and earn good grades and HAVE friends. But that shouldn't be what's your life's about, or what you're worried about, or what you always think about. Which is hard. I find myself always thinking about wordly matters. But really, even though all these stuff might make you popular, famous, or well liked, it's not going to matter when you die. All these stuff will get thrown away, not be "in" anymore, stolen, lost, or rot. But God's love never rots or is lost or stolen. It is you that might walk away from God. In heaven, you are not going to carry your fifty dollar Pink leggings with you. In fact, if that's what you think about all day, and do, you're probably not even going to go to heaven. And if you're not Christian and truly believe God saved you and truly believe in Him, you WON'T go to heaven. You'll go to hell. Tough. But it's true. And your clothes and money won't matter then. No, you'll be in eternal pain, heat, fire, and darkness. You'll be so hot, but you won't die and there's no water. The fire never stops. And worm will be going through you and eating you. You won't be thinking or doing much except wanting a break, wanting it to be over, and ... screaming. Hell is not a lovely place. I'm not going to juice it all up and say, "Oh, there's some fire, and horned devils with pitchforks." You might be living a luxurious non-Christian life, but when you die, you won't. You might be Christian, but suffering because many people hate you for being Christian, but in the end, YOU get to go to heaven for eternity while THEY will go to hell. Heaven is a WONDERFUL place. There is gold, and gates there made of pearl.

You might be thinking, "Well how do you know? Are you dead? Have you been there before?" No, I'm not dead and I haven't been there before, but there is the Bible for proof, and if that isn't good enough for you, there are books about people traveling through hell and heaven and the middle place.

So do you want luxury now and pain forever later? Or do you want pain now and paradise forever?

Just because you're rich doesn't mean you'll go to hell. Just because you're poor doesn't mean you'll go to heaven.

 You cannot save yourself. It's salvation, believing in God, living your life as a true Christian would, and the death of Jesus (which he rose three days later), that saves you.

FOS-Joy

Joy.
"Joy to the world."
"Be joyful always."
Joy can be defined in many terms.
When I think of joy, I think of happiness.
When I got my iPod? Pure joy, or pure happiness, let's call it.
Joy is the second fruit of the spirit, the pursuit for happiness. Everyone wants to be happy.
John 15:11 
The things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 
The pursuit for happiness goes on forever. You want something, and as soon as you have it, you trash it.
You want to be fully satisifed, and no one can make that happen for you.
However, one thing can.
That thing is God.
Heaven is pure joy, golden streets, no sin, amazing.
Everyone wants to continue on the quest for joy. King Solomon conducted experiments to try and find joy. He found joy, but still was not satisfied.
How long will the humans last before we end up destroying one another? [sorry, that was totally irrelevant.]
Joy can be from evil too. People can find joy out of gunning people, like Adam Lanza, and others can find joy out of peaceful things, like nature and space like Saint Francis of Assisi.

The type of joy that a Christian should have is biblical joy.
We enjoy (see what i did there :P) reading the bible, or we should.
The bible is our gateway to talk to God. Kind of like a secret passage to talk to our ancestors.
Do you treat the bible and praying important, or do you just push it aside and think of it as a chore?
Think of it as a time machine for Christmas.
If you were going to die today, what would you do?
I would go buy a helicopter then fly to church and land on the top of the building.
However, god is alive right now and is always willing to keep you on track or help you with your life.
Are you going to YOLO or be happy with God? God can give you everything you need. Joy, heaven, love.
Everyone wants that.
Joy.
Jump for joy.
Joy to the world.
Joy makes me want to cry out in happiness.

reasons for everything.

Right now, I'm in a fight with one of my closest friends.
She wasn't the nicest friends ever. But she meant a lot to me.
She always stood up for me, even in the worst way possible.
When I was with her, I guess I kind of felt protected, like there was a shield with us because I knew that she would be there for me.
Now, it's like we have to be on guard to be attacked.
Which is about every day during lunch.
J, S, and me always get annoyed and talk about her. Then L tells us to shut up because he really likes her.
I feel like Amber acted as a God to me, always there for me. However, at the end, our friendship cracks.
God is like that, but different. He's going to be our shield, and we'll stand up for him in return. In the end, he'll be there for you. 
Sometimes, I wonder why God has his reasons for everything.
I know that everything happens for a reason, but some reasons seem confusing.
I guess you could say that this world is like a foggy window pane.
When Jesus comes, he'll wipe away the fog and replace it with sunshine.
Then the world will become totally understandable.
We don't understand everything because we are merely humans.
God is God.
You might wonder why God didn't invent a perfect world.
He did. However, satan came in.
The Garden of Eden was perfect. Then satan came, and Eve fell for it.
God loves us, with true love. We walk away every day from him, rejecting him and inviting Satan in.
God probably looks down at this world. We destroy the earth he created for us, and we don't act like Christians. Yet he still loves us, with true loves.
Have you ever seen it that way? We are dirty humans who should be used as god's slaves, yet he gives us a chance of a lifetime. One lifetime to live with him.
Are you going to use it wisely? :)

Another New Author

Now, another new, young, and Christian person will add to our wisdom. We are blessed to have more and more authors. Please welcome Christopher, our third new author!

~Rachel

Fruits of the Spirit

I'm going to start a "fruits of the spirits" sector.
Today, I'm going to talk about Love.
Love is usually depicted using the heart.
However, love doesn't come from the heart.
It comes from the spirit.
Mark 12:31 says ...... "Love your neighbor as yourself." .....
It's hard to do that. You build up strong relationships and they come tumbling down.
Part of being a Christian is being able to love people in all circumstances.
You can say, "Oh, I love ____" but you don't truly mean it.
In my opinion, love in the bible is shown as someone dying for you.
Would you die for your sibling or parents?
You might say yes, but in a hard time, your mindset is on surviving.
I'm not good with love, that's why this post is very scattered.
I think that God's love is enormous.
It extends around the perimeter of Jupiter.
More than that.
Are you loving?
Loving must be mixed with spiritual traits.
Spiritual traits like faith, goodness, the other fruits of the spirit.
What does love mean to me? Love means that you are kind, nice, loving (well duh.) and other fruits of the spirit. It all connects.
I have seen many times, that people see if you are Christian or not based on your actions.
This song -> reminds me of how we need to be.
People see how you are, and loving life and people is just the beginning. You don't see 100% perfect people everywhere, but trying is half the battle.
Can you imagine, someone died a terrible death, for you?
Jesus Christ loved you so much, that he was willing to die for you.
You, me, everyone takes it for granted everyday.
Today, look to the sky
and say,
"Thank you Jesus. For dying for me."

Rachel's Weekly Words #2

Sometimes, forgiving someone is better than punishment. However, you also need to talk to them, to make sure they won't repeat the same action they did. Otherwise, if you keep forgiving them, and they keep on doing whatever they're doing, what's the point in that? This week, I encourage you all to forgive instead of punishing, shouting, or doing anything else.

Gone

Think about it. When you are alive on this earth, it is only for a short while. Yet, your actions on earth will either send you to heaven or hell. You have the chance to influence others, to let others know about God. Do you talk to God to your friends? Do you share the gospel and the good news? If you are not, not only are they not going to learn about God, you will not see them in heaven. If you are a Christian, do you live like one, act like one? Is your mind filled with earthly desires? Everyone will watch and observe you. If you swear everyday, your friends will think, "If this is what a Christian is like, I don't want to be one." However, once you talk to your friends about God, and invite them to church, there isn't much you can do except pray for them. You cannot force an unwilling person to be Christian.

This is what all the people in the Middle Ages did wrong. Christians are supposed to be tolerant of other religions, not slaughter thousands of people if they are not willing to be Christian.

Many of you call yourselves "Christians", yet you are like any other person. If you have lost your connection with God, it isn't too late to pray for him to lead and guide your life again.

3 Easy Steps to Build Your Relationship With God Again
Step 1.  Confess your sins. Repent.
Step 2. Tell Him you are willing to let him control your life, and you want Him to be in your life again.
Step 3. Pray consistently (everyday).

Dear Lilian

Dear Lilian,
Sorry Lilian.

Sorry, can't come on Saturday.

Sorry. I want to but...anyways Karen didn't murder me. She actually said it was okay. :D and i was doing well. Anyways, don't expect me on Saturday.

Heheh feeling guilty.  Did you get my phone? I sent it to you. :D you can keep it for the whole week and give it back to me next saturday.

Rachel

Away

I'm going to be gone for saturday and sunday, so I'm not posting anything on those two days.

But I might post on Saturday...


Oh, and someone new might be joining us.
~Rachel

God is in control.

Have you ever felt like your rushing through life?
You don't have time for your friends?
Well, it's important to know that God is in control.
Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
No matter however you succeed or wherever you go in life, you're going to die.
Steve Jobs. An amazing man, not Christian, was careless, and died. He's not going to heaven.
Life is like a train. If you miss the train stop, your dead. You going nowhere, and you'll have to hang out at the train station until another oppurtnity comes.
God is gracious. God will know when your going through a hard time and he'll know when to reward you.

Sometimes, we blame God. That's often.
One thing that important to remember is that everything happens for a reason.
People without God are people without a reason. God gives us life so we can live up to him and love him.
Are you excited for heaven?
Are you willing to give up your whole life for our God?
God could come down tomorrow. Would you be ready to go to heaven, or would you be worried that God wouldn't let you in because you aren't good enough by skipping church and not living up to be a Christian?

Different views

Don’t use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing. Ephesians 4:29
Have you had a dream of what a perfect family should look like? Do you ever ask yourself these question: “Why would God put me in a family like this?” "Why do I feel like I  have to endure situations within him/her?"
 Look at what the Bible said, "You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. "(1 Peter 3:8 ) That’s the family that God wants for us. The reality is that none of us have a perfect family like this.  Good relationships make our lives enjoyable and meaningful, but broken relationships can make our lives miserable. 
There are always many views in every situation in any family, we can see things differently from a different perspective, depending on what we want to see. Do we often treat strangers better than we treat our own family? Do we know that our words are often harshest?  Why do we treat family pets better than we treat our spouses or children or siblings? Why can’t we do better to them? Why is it so hard to talk to our families in a godly way? Is it because we are so familiar with them that we don’t have to show them our best or respective? The key to transforming our family life is to have consideration for others. Speaking to consideration, it won’t always be easy.  When we focus on their needs, and not just on our needs, good relationships will follow.  Communication is also the key to good relationships. Is all our communication in the form of fighting?  If we want our family relationships to improve, we are going to have to take the time to listen and speak kindly.  When we have control of our words, we have control of our hearts. :DBecause our fallen nature, it is so hard to live what we believe, so start today, pay attention to how we treat others, both in our words and actions. 
~Rachel

Rachel's Weekly Words #1

Love is stronger than hate. Do not overcome hate with hate or evil with evil. In Romans 12:21 it says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." 

Also, in Romans 12:19 it says, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath." To love someone, though, is harder than to hate someone. Is it not easier to hate a stubborn, mean person than to love them? No, it is by far easier to hate them. Yet, we are all sinners and no one is righteous, but Jesus died for us and loved us. God's love for us is greater than all the love in the world. The Bible tells us to love everyone. Does it say, "love your friends only? Love the nice people only?" No, it says to love everyone. And that's huge. I am working on loving everyone.

 You can show some of God's love by being nice to people. Think about it this way. If you told people you were Christian, would they be shocked, or would they say, "yeah, that seems right." Practice hospitality. This week, I encourage everyone to love one another, no matter who they are.

Christian Artists.

What do you know about songs?
There are singers these days, like Nikki Minaj, Justin Bieber, and well, I doubt that any pop singer on the radio is Christian.
When you listen to pop songs, you are going against God. People will not see you as a trying Christian, they'll see you trying to be like the rest of the world.
However, there ARE indeed pop songs written by Christian aritsts. My favorite artist, Britt Nicole, writes fantastic Christian songs. Christian songs always put me in a good mood and they always make me loving God and thanking him more every single day.
Christian artists don't sing for money and fame. They sing to praise God and share the gospel. When your friend asks you to share an earphone, be a Christian and play a Christian song.
I definetly agree that it's very hard to share Christianity, as you don't want to be judged and people have their other beliefs. If I was aethiest, I wouldn't think that a God was real.
However, I know that Christianity is real because it has changed ME. Muslim doesn't impact people. IT makes people die. Buddhism doesn't impact people except teach them by sitting under a tree makes you turn into a statue.

On another topic, how you act.
The fruits of the spirit:
When your Christian, people expect you to be perfect, not sin, and people want to see a living example. If all the Christians in the world were nice and perfect and holy, I guarentee 100% of the world would be Christian.
By gaming, your falling into sin. By obeying idols, your falling into sin and not being a true Christian.
Christianity is just a label. Christian means NOTHING, because no one has reached the stage of being Christian. You can say, "I'm Christian." However, your sin and actions don't prove it. The correct thing to say is, "I'm growing to become a Christian." You need to continiously strive to please God and obey and share God's word.
Lead by example.
~Lilian

Idols

Today, I forgot my password for my phone, and it was disabled for a minute. After it is disabled, if you type in another wrong password, it's five, then twenty i think, then eventually forever disabled, so I was really scared. I prayed to God furtively. When I finally remembered my password, which I was to scared to put in, I typed it, and was so relieved when it worked. Then, I deleted some addicting games I had because they were taking my attention away from God, and sort of was like an idol to me. I payed way more attention to the games than God. I'm trying to concentrate for God being the center of my life, not games or anything else. Now, without that game, I'm not glued to it, and have a lot of time to devote to God. So if anything tears your attention away from God, and you spend so much time on it, (like games. a really common game nowadays is league of legends) you should delete it. Stopping is way harder than deleting because deleting only takes a second. Spend more time with God, and grow your relationship with him.

~Rachel

Swearing.

Today, I'm going to rant about the topic, should Christians swear?
I've seen many Christians claim to be Christians. I even claim to be Christian.
I am 100% sure that I'm on the bottom rack of Christians.

When you swear, you are representing God.
I've witnessed someone say, "You go to church?!" To a certain someone. In return, he replied, "The bible says nothing about swearing."
Umm, yeah it does.
Ephesians 4:29- "Let nothing unwholesome come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up others, so that it might help those who listen."
When you swear, you're dishonoring God.
Swearing is a SIN.
I don't care if you're cussing at some other religion, you shouldn't be swearing.
In everything you do, you need to honor God.
People look towards your actions to see whether you are Christian or not.
One of my closest friends X claims to be a Christian, but her actions towards me don't prove it.

However, there are times that I'd say that some words are an exception.
Crap. Crap is poo. The man who invented the toilet was John Crappers or something like that.
The word crap was named after him. Kind of like a prize or award for making our wonderful toilets.


One artist that I listen to is Britt Nicole.
She sings pop songs, but their all towards God.
Check them out :)

~Lilian

Christian Songs

Here are some Christian songs I usually listen to. They are my favorites.

• Here I Am To Worship-------------------------by Tim Hughes
• Awake My Soul-with Lecrae------------------by Chris Tomlin
• In Christ Alone-----------------------------------by Newsboys
• Reign In Us---------------------------------------by Starfield
• Stronger-------------------------------------------by Hillsong
• Lay Me Down------------------------------------by Chris Tomlin
• Mighty To Save----------------------------------by Hillsong
• You are Holy(Prince of Peace-----------------by Michael W. Smith

I always listen to these. It's really soothing. And it's great music. The one with Lecrae has a bit of rapping in the end. Well, it sort of like rapping.

~Rachel

#Helptheworld #spreadtheword

You go to watch a movie
You get shot
You go to school
You get shot
You run a marathon
You get bombed
Two 14 year olds killed a homeless man as a dare.
People try to poison Obama and US senator
Texas Blast.

Wow. Satan is really controlling the world right now. But one day, God will throw Satan away, and regain power of the world. He will punish the wicked and those who refuse to believe in Him.
WHY IS THE WORLD SO EVIL?

One day, it might be illegal to be a Christian.

A lot of people died. And they probably didn't know God. Where did they go? Certainly not to heaven. Repent and accept Christ as your Savior. If you haven't yet, go to a church and find a pastor.

In Revelations, it talks about the end of the world, and what will happen. Many destructions and death.

In those days, it will be very hard for Christians. But in the end, they will be rewarded for the suffering they had on earth.
~Rachel

Take a breath.

Take a breath.
Look around.
Say Thank you God.
Thank you, that I'm alive.

These days.
Satan has taken over the world.
First the conneticut shooting?
Heaven did NOT gain 20 angels.
Who knew if all were Christian or not.
Then, the boston massacre?
Then, the texas bomb thing?

Really?

God has spared you.
It could have been you.
So take a breath.
Look up to the sky.
Smile.
Gaze into his eyes.
And say
"thank you God, for loving me."

If you die.
You should not be a fraid.
You should be 100% sure your going to heaven.
I'm ready to die.
Any day.
I want to spend it with God.

Thank you god.
For this life spent with you.
I know I haven't spent it to the maximum with you
but I tried my best.
'And you were graceful
and thank you
for sending your son.
Thank you for sparing me
thank you for giving me a family.
Thank you for giving me you and your love.
Amen.
~Lilian

Praying

I pray everyday, sometimes at breakfast, mostly at lunch, and always at dinner. But those have become daily habits to me. I just murmur thanks and to bless the food and some other stuff and that's it. AMEN. I'm done.  At night I always trick myself to not pray by saying to myself, "Oh, I'm so tired. I need some sleep." But at night when I DO pray to God, it's also like a daily habit: murmuring thanks, other stuff, and AMEN...I'm done. It's just like something I want to get over with so I can continue on. Sometimes, when I just stop, and pray, really talking to God, it feels really different. Yet despite all this knowledge, I continue to do my habits. And I ask myself, why? I know when I eat, I just want to pray as fast as I can to get over with it so I can eat.
My goal is for me not to rush over prayer, and to really talk to God and give thanks. Which is going to take some trouble. I hope you can all pray for me to help me with this. Thanks.
~Rachel
                                             

New Author

Ok so Lilian is going to the co-owner with me. :) So I think she'll post too.

~Rachel

Faith

"Why are you alive today? How do you know what is right or wrong? I am Christian, and I am going to share my true purpose in life.I live for God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 states I am not on my own, I belong to God and should live for him. Everyone will die one day, and you will either go to heaven or hell. heaven is amazing hell is eternal suffering in flames, and you will never die. You will live and suffer and be judged upon your actions. Blaise Pascal said, "If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him, while if he does exist, one will lose everything by believing."
Morality and Freedom are connected for me. I'm not free. I know what's right and wrong, yet I always do the wrong thing. I am enslaved to sin. When you are enslaved to sin, you sin everyday, naturally. You guys all do it. Thinking someone's face is ugly is sin. Murdering someone is sin. It is impossible to be perfect and never sin, but that is my life's goal. I am trying my best to be like Jesus and be perfect, being kind, gracious, and all that good stuff and the fruits of the spirit.
I want to be free. Jesus wants me to share his love with the rest of the world. Jesus died for you in HUMAN FORM, he was nailed on the cross and left to slowly die. He was 100% human, not superman.
He suffered for you, would you want to do that too for the world, or do you want someone else to sacrifice themselves for you? Jesus already did it to wash away your sins, yet people go around swearing and sinning like there's no tomorrow.
God is watching over you, and one day you will be judged.
Christianity is based on faith. Many of you don't believe anything because "you need to see something to believe it." Stop being hypocrites! You sit in that chair yet you don't know if it'll explode or fall down.
You're sinning and not giving religion a chance because you think that evolving from bacteria seems so realistic. Well, it's not! There's not science in evolution.
God has led me through tough times and his word teaches me what is right and wrong. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without God. He's blessed me and you guys with a house, and family. God could take it away any day. I was given a life to share the word of God and represent Christianity in everything I do. I haven't been doing a very good job.
I'm just saying that this God has done so much for me. He's responded to many prayers of mine,
I can't wait to die. I get to spend forever with God. If the world ends tomorrow, some of you guys may end up somewhere you don't wish to be. i pray for all of you to give Christianity a chance.

I just really hope that God will give me the strength to do my presentation without messing up.
Lol. I love that tingly feeling you get when you feel the holy spirit in you."

This is from lilian's blog and she is right. I just want to add something. many scientific theories are right, but many are also wrong for example, we don't know if Pangea actually was existent, but there's no proof that it isn't true. It's just a hypothesis. Also, dinosaurs were dead long before humans were created. Well, God first created animals before human, and he created dinosaurs among them. On day in God's eyes is a very very long time for us, so they must have died before Adam was created. Lilian is right. We are all sinners and all hypocrites. We are basically putting so much faith in a chair because we trust it would hold us. Well, if you put your faith in God and trust He'll hold you, He will. You don't even need that much faith. You need just a little. That's all He's asking for.
Check lilian's blog out and click the link above.

~Rachel

RECALL NOTICE!

Recall Notice:
The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been identified as "Sub-sequential Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

 Some of the symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.

The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is not additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E (BEST Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING:

Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus. 

DANGER:

The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

-GOD

P.S   Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!

~Rachel

Beautiful Days

You know beautiful days where it just takes your breath away? It isn't just some chemicals creating those colors, no it's God's creation. Only God can create something so beautiful. Science cannot explain everything, but God can. He can help you in your troubles and is always there for you.

I love taking photos on those days because it's just proof of His creation and it's simply so beautiful.

*Snap*

~Rachel

A Letter From Mom and Dad

This is a very good video. I cried when I read it. It made me really think hard, and say, "Wow." Watch this because it is very touching and I think everyone should watch it.

~Rachel

“I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will make peace with His people, His faithful followers. Yet they must not return to their foolish ways.”  Psalms 85: 8

How many times a day do we want God to listen to our complaints and problems? But how often do we stop to hear God’s voice, to listen to what He says to us and what is His will for our lives?”

How do we get to know a person? You probably say by communicating with him / her, by talking and listening.  It's the same with our relationship with God. God wants to talk to us and He also wants us to listen and talk to Him.

God speaks through His words.  We are unable to hear His voice because we are often distracted.

That’s why we are flooded with so many doubts, confusion, uncertainty and we make bad choices.

So if we want to hear God, we will have to turn off our phone, TV,  IPad and  computer.  We need to have alone time with God,  spend some time in His written Word,  knee on our knees in prayer and obedient to His call on our life.

We need to be alerted to the fact that there are other voices whispering into our ears as well.  We  can hear the voice of God, we also can hear the voice of our own fleshly desires,  and the voice of the Devil.  But Jesus tells us that His sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. 

Let’s t tune out the noises of the world, allow God to speak. If we listened more and complained less, we would have the answer we want.  Stop and listen to what God has to say to us,  the answer is there.

~Rachel

Add to Fun Pictures

I'm adding this here, but it relates to the post of Fun pictures.

Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  (Luke 9:23)

It's encouraged that I am not the only one burdened down to the ground at times when I carried my cross to follow Jesus. But the Lord’s message to us is clear: “Take up your cross.” Regardless of where we have been, what we have done, or what we haven’t done, take ourself the way we are and follow Him. Believe in Him, trust in Him or worship Him as we carry our cross when we follow Him.

There are many crosses in life. But what kind of cross do you carry each day? Parenting can be a cross, so can temptation, wealth, popularity or ourself...

And so it is our right and responsibility to carry our crosses, never say the cross is too heavy to bear. God knows the way wherever we are because He's already been.

May we carry our crosses with strength and purpose; and while we do, may we count the blessings of God’s strength, peace and love.

First, to clear something up (or not).  My view on Esau’s marriage to the grand daughter of Ishmael is evidently different than many of the others in my discussion group based on answers.  I saw it as just another knee-jerk response rather than a slap in the face to his parents.  He learned they didn’t like Canaanite wives, so he was bent on marrying the first available non-Canaanite woman he could find.  Who else was around but the descendents of Ishmael?

When God says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this tells me that Jacob’s behavior, the way he is viewed by others, is not simply a reflection on him, but it is a reflection on his father, his grandfather and his God.

Is any less true for us?  When we mis-behave or act inappropriately, what message does that send about my father, grandfather and God?  When I look at my actions and decisions and behavior in that light, does it change the way I act.

In preparing for my lecture I made the statement “the choices we make reveal the person that we are.  If we wish to be someone else, the path is simple… make different choices.”  This isn’t meant to say that we need to rely on our own strength and judgment, but sometimes we make things out to be far bigger than they are.  God has the strength to support us on any right path… but the choice is ours.

Am I looking at my immediate wants and desires, or am I looking at how my decisions reflect the character of my father, grandfather and God?  I might have made a few better decisions in my life had I kept this in mind earlier!

Again, if you are reading this, I would ask your prayers for the delivery of this message to the middle school children, particularly the young men.  I ask that their hearts be open to feeling the burden of this, not in a negative way, but in an empowering way.  They have been gifted with a family name and a God who deserves their best behavior and their best decisions!
~Rachel

Fun Pictures

We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we can't.

Whatever your cross, whatever you pain, 

there will always be sunshine, after the rain.

Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;

But God's always ready, to answer you call.

He knows every heartache, sees every tear,

a word from His lips can calm every fear.

Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,

But suddenly vanish, dawn's early light.

The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,

to give you His grace, and send you His love.

...............................................................................................................................................

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. And you question God, "Why me?" Always look at the bigger picture. A day without the Lord is a day wasted. God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in you favor.  

~Rachel

Verses

Romans 3:23     For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Everyone has sinned. You, me, everyone. We were born sinners. I won't deny that. You do not come close to God.

Acts 16:31    They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and you household."
And that's true. No matter how sad, mad, angry, dejected, and other feeling you feel, God is always there for you. ALWAYS. He has never left you or gone from your side, and he loves you. So for people who have not known or accepted Christ as their Savior yet, do. Do and repent from your sins. If you are doubtful, attend a church, read the Bible carefully, and talk to the pastor.

~Rachel